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(meteorobs) Geminids in Oklahoma
131 Geminids
2 Sporadics
Last night I watched my first ever Geminids display, and it was very
enjoyable. My home in Oklahoma City was clouded over all night, but just
15 miles west at El Reno skies were perfectly clear. I observed from
around 06:45 UTC to 09:30 UTC. I took a half hour break in there to pick
up my brother who was just off work. But in about 2 hours 15 minutes of
observing I saw 131 Geminids. It was a very nice meteor shower.
Most of the Geminids were bright, and I thought they moved quite a bit
slower than the Leonids. The Geminids truly looked like "falling" stars
also because they would start high in the sky and drop perpendicular to
the horizon. That was a nice visual effect. Many of the longer lasting
Geminids did have a green color. The rest were bright white. The best
one of the night fell around 07:50 UTC. It was very bright and left a
pretty long tail. Meanwhile, the head of the meteor was a bit wider than
the tail and there was a blue color at the head. This meteor moved slow
and lasted about 3 seconds. I might describe it as a fireball, although I
don't know if there is a technical definition for the term fireball that I
have seen frequently used on this mailing list.
Unlike others on the list, I did not notice much of a drop in activity
through the night. It may be that I missed a good show before 06:45 UTC
while I was hoping for the skies to clear at home. In any case, I
thoroughly enjoyed the meteors I did see.
-Patrick Burke
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
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